Hitachi UK scheme backs Northern Trust fund

UK - Northern Trust Global Investments says it has received seeding from the Hitachi UK Pension Scheme for its new manager of managers UK Equity Plus fund.

NTGI said in a statement that it has launched the Dublin-based fund with 37.1 million pounds (euros) in seeding from Scottish Equitable and the Hitachi plan.

“It is a powerful endorsement to have secured funding from two such institutional investors,” said John Greene, head of manager research within NTGI’s European manager of managers business.

Northern Trust said the new fund aims to outperform the FTSE All Share index by 2.5% a year. Majedie Asset Management will run the growth-focused segment of the fund, while Mirabaud has been appointed to run the flexible, value-oriented portion of the fund.

“Our UK Equity Plus Fund will be more aggressive than our existing UK Equity Fund,” added Tony Earnshaw, head of NTGI’s European manager of managers business.

“We have received highly positive feedback from investors and intermediaries about the Fund and expect to see a steady inflow of investment from new and existing clients over the next 12 months.”